Hi everyone.

It's been quite a while since my last post... so long I had to re-register. Anyway...

I have (and love) the 990, connected to a B&K Reference 200.7 (200Wx7) amp, with a 7.1 Ascend Acoustics speaker setup and a HSU VT3-MK3 sub. Digital cable and an Oppo-981 feed video to a Sony KDS-R60XBR2 (accepts 1080p).

I've been waiting (and waiting) to dip a toe into the world of high-definition discs. I've been leaning towards Blu-Ray, but holding out for better implementation (or for a clear winner).

I've been hearing rumors and reading previews of the Samsung BD-UP5000, a hybrid Blu-Ray/HD-DVD player, due out in December 2007 at about $1000. What particularly interests me is the 7.1 analog out. It supposedly has onboard decoding for Dolby Digital Plus and TrueHD. It is reported to be firmware-upgradeable for DTS-HD High Resolution and DTS-HD Master Audio, but it's not clear to me whether this will be onboard decoding (and output via 7.1 analog), or bitstream out via HDMI.

I was surprised not to find any posts on this forum about it, given the 990's 7.1 inputs without HDMI.

Does anyone else have any additional information, or opinions about this player? Gonk?